Spice Girls
Greatest Hits

THE REVIEW

Scary, Baby, Ginger, Posh, and Sporty are back. Happy? Come on, now, don't fall off your chairs from excitement! After ten years, here they are in a 'reunion' to celebrate the successes of the five (ex) English girls.

When in 1994 'Wannabe' was released, their first single, it was immediately 'Spice mania.' They were fresh, young, rebellious, and above all normal. Yes, because in my opinion, the strength of the Spice Girls is precisely this. None of them excel in beauty nor in talent. All five are cute girls, but you could easily meet them while walking around a small town in England. None of them have great voices: they all sing a bit, but none with excellent results. The overrated Melanie C has nothing more than Victoria Beckham, Geri Halliwell nothing more than Emma Bunton or Melanie B. Mediocre. All five. However, in 1994, they made it. They achieved enormous sales success and made girls all around the world go crazy with their catchy tunes, their simple clothes that seemed bought from the Chinese (at least before they started wearing expensive outfits), and their makeup and hairstyling were quite homemade (and a bit vulgar). That's why the teenagers of thirteen years ago identified with them. "If a short chubby like Geri Halliwell made it, why can't I do it?" Regardless, talented or not, gifted or not, the five spicy girls dominated the world of sales in the second half of the nineties, breaking sales records. After 'Wannabe', it was the turn of 'Say You'll Be There'. Both videos were energetic and 'feminist-tinged.' Two ballads followed: 'Two Become One' and 'Mama,' and then what I think is the 'least worst' of the girls' first album: 'Who Do You Think You Are,' which was also the last single extracted from the album.

I remember the shopping malls flooded with gadgets printed with the faces of the Spice Girls, I remember every radio station, every television broadcasting their pieces repeatedly, TV shows vying for them as guests, and every news program talking about them. It was an obsession. And the obsession continued with the release of the second album, 'Spiceworld.' 'Move Over' served as the soundtrack for the Pepsi commercial, and then 'Spice Up Your Life,' a nice tune. A film (sorry, I didn't dare call it a 'movie') entitled the same as the album and a World Tour followed. Like lightning from a clear sky at the start of the tour, an announcement shook the world and plunged half of the world's teenagers into despair. Ginger Spice, Geri Halliwell, perhaps the most representative of the group, left the Spice Girls. Reasons? Unknown. Some claimed the decision was made due to 'irreconcilable differences with the other girls,' others blamed her departure on breast cancer. Personally, I hope (for Halliwell) that it was the first reason. But since she's still alive and well, it matters little. The fact is, the 'Spice dream' ended. Suddenly. And badly. Perhaps this was a good thing for the group's world image because the toy broke right when it was at the peak of success, creating a sort of myth.

After attempting the 'new entry' strategy by inviting the former Israeli transsexual Dana International, winner that year at Eurofestival and a diva in Israel and very famous in the UK and the rest of Europe, who, however, commented with a dry and wise 'no comment,' (I wonder what nickname they would have given her: after Ginger Spice would it be Trans Spice?), the four survivors released a third album which, however, was a flop: only two singles were extracted, of which only one, 'Holler,' was, in my opinion, worth noting. Meanwhile, Geri Halliwell, slimmed down and cleaned up, raged worldwide with her first solo work, followed by Melanie C, then Melanie B, then Emma Bunton, and then Victoria Beckham. Each of them attempted a solo career, some with moderate success (Geri H, Melanie C, Emma B), others with disastrous flops (Melanie B, Victoria B), then recycling themselves in other fields (cinema, theater, and especially gossip). Ten years later, all this seemed like a distant memory: 'cute the latest from Melanie C!' 'Did you know she started with the Spice Girls?' 'Spice who?' 'Come on!'

And yet the Spicy Girls are trying again. Amidst denials, leaks, quarrels, conditions, promises, here they are back on the scene with a greatest hits containing 13 past hits (practically all the singles) and two new recordings. With the formation complete once again, the now grown women (four out of five are mothers, the only one who hasn't had kids is Melanie C, who exudes saffism from every pore) present themselves cleaned up, grown up, dressed and styled with class. In theory, light years away from the girls they were. In theory. The two new pieces are (but look!) a ballad with a title that sounds hypocritical to the nth power: 'Headlines (Friendship Never Ends)' (after they fought over the very idea of reuniting, how can they title the comeback single like that?!) and a danceable tune titled 'Voodoo.' The style is always the same. Nothing new under the sun. Catchy songs, mediocre voices (to be kind to mothers), commercially good results for sales, but only for those. What makes me smile is that a ton of different versions of the GH have come out: the one with just the CD, the one with the CD and the DVD, the one with a remix CD, and the one with a karaoke CD. And a new world tour has been launched - which unfortunately/fortunately won't reach Italy – for which tickets are being sold through a contest: only the lucky winners will be able to attend the show. I wonder? After the sales flops of Melanie B and Victoria Beckham's albums, as well as Geri Halliwell's third album, are the ladies so sure people will fight to hear them? Maybe someone should tell them that the times of 'Wannabe' are over...

I'll give this album two stars. One because, although very mediocre, I find the Spice Girls likeable, and the other for the courage of the reunion. Curiosity: after Geri Halliwell came out of the nightmare of bulimia (which makes me like her even more: I've been through that disease and know what it means), the specter of anorexia looms over Beckham. Too skinny, the tour organizers have imposed a restorative diet on her to avoid a collapse in the middle of a performance. I don't know, I find them likeable. And I feel a bit sorry for them because (and with this, I will attract criticism and ridicule from everyone) they're full of problems up to their necks. Not economic, but money isn't everything. You can't joke about bulimia and anorexia. Whether your name is Pinca Pallina or Victoria Beckham. The Greatest Hits ends with 'Goodbye': the girls have, in fact, declared that with this tour, the Spice Girls as a formation will give a final goodbye to the audience.

PS Do we bet that if they are successful, a new album of theirs will come out with the full formation? 'Money changes everything,' sang Cyndi Lauper.